Gone By
by Batwynn
Summary: Tony was really sick. Ever since they went out last Sunday... This clearly wasn't just your normal batch food poisoning. He was pale, lacking a heart beat, and maybe a little too interested in Loki's neck. [ Halloween Fic! ]


**Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own these characters. All rights belong to Marvel etc.**

* * *

**Gone By**

Tony was sick. He hadn't been feeling well since their last 'Shwarma Saturday,' and that was almost a week ago.

"Tony, go to the hospital already," Bruce grumbled at his bed-ridden friend. "No one else got sick, and I'm starting to think this isn't food poisoning."

Tony croaked in response, "What the fuck is it then? It only happened after we ate there."

"I don't know. I'm not exactly that kind of doctor. I didn't see any major abnormalities in your blood, but I could have missed it."

Tony grimaced and sat up from his mound of pillows. Loki had set it up for him after about the fifth day of vomiting. Seeing how little strength he had left, the god was worried that Tony would choke.

Tony was actually feeling a little bit better today. He almost felt hungry. Almost.  
"Look, if I'm not better tomorrow, I'll go in." Tony smiled weakly at his friend and scooted to the edge if the bed. "See, see? I can manage to piss on my own again. It's a miracle."

"Shut up and go pee then, smart ass." Bruce waved him off and left the room to go find Loki. It was time to trade off baby sitters. Tony made his way to the toilet with more grace than he thought possible. He was feeling quite satisfied until he glanced down and saw something he had feared all his life. Blood.

"Awh, shit," he groaned. "I really did it this time. I actually killed my liver."

"Tony?" Loki's voice came from the bedroom. "You aren't throwing up again, are you?"

"Nope, nope. We're all good," he lied, flushing the toilet quickly in case the god came in. He washed his hands and looked at himself in the mirror for the first time in a week.

Holy shit, is that what I really look like?

"Hey, Lokes," Tony called out of the bathroom. "Why didn't anyone tell me that I look like a member of the Addam's Family?"

"If I knew what that was, I would have told you so," Loki responded with a chuckle. "You will be back to your normal sun-god tan soon enough, love."

"I donno," Tony said, shutting the bathroom door behind him and joining Loki on his bed. "Once you go ghost, you never come back. Now I think I'll just get burned."

Loki pulled Stark into a tight embrace, nuzzling into his shoulder. Tony loved the fact that the god still snuggled with him even while he was sick. He had prepared himself to be lonely and miserable without his boyfriend, but Loki surprised him by spending every day with him regardless of the gross amounts of vomiting. Tony thought for sure that the god would have left the country, never mind staying in the same room as a sick mortal.

Maybe he can't catch it?

"I believe more rest is in order," Loki whispered softly into Tony's ear. "Before you begin thinking about your tan again."

"I can sleep and tan at the same time. Why do you think they're called 'Tanning Beds'?"

"Stark," Loki said pointedly. "Sleep."

Tony grumbled into the god's chest and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Hungry.

Oh god I'm so fucking hungry.

I want ten cheeseburgers and milkshakes and mm… just so…

Hungry.

Tony's lips brushed against the familiar warmth of his lover's. He usually ended up nestled into Loki's neck one way or another during the night. Still half asleep, Tony licked his lips and began nibbling on the god's neck.

Burgers.

He bit down suddenly, hard. Loki yelped and tried to pull his head back in the confusion, only allowing Tony to dig his teeth in further. Gurgling, Loki finally managed to throw himself backwards off the bed, tearing a bite sized chuck of flesh out of his neck. The god was pale, his hand reaching up quickly to stem the flow of blood already gushing from his neck.

"T-Tony?" he gasped with a struggle.

Tony sat up and blinked down at the god in confusion. "What happened, Lokes?" he said, noticing the steam of red flowing down the god's chest from his neck, Tony exclaimed, "Oh my god! What the fuck happened?" while launching himself out of the bed towards his lover.

Loki flinched and scrambled backwards away from Tony. "S-stop! Just stop. Stay," he wheezed. "Stay where you are."

A prong of fear and hurt cut through Tony's chest. "How can I help you if I have to stay over here?" he asked, concerned at his boyfriend's response.

"Tony… What does your mouth taste like right now?" Loki asked, scooting towards the bathroom door. Tony raised an eyebrow and licked his strangely moist lips.

Copper.

"Oh Jesus Christ on a pancake!" Tony groaned loudly, reaching up and wiping his mouth. A streak of red washed across his deathly pale hands. He felt panic begin to rise, his heart rate… his heart rate should have been going through the roof.

But it doesn't feel like it's doing anything.

He rested a hand in his chest and looked down at his blood stained shirt. Tony listened for a moment. There was no heartbeat. He opened his mouth to yell, deny it, to make any form of a verbal freak out. The slam of the bathroom door jarred him from his thoughts.

"Loki!" he shouted, running forward and trying the door handle. "Lokes! I'mso sorry, okay? I was out of it. I don't even know how or why that happened. Lokes, are you okay?"

"No," a quiet voice from inside responded. It sounded muffled, like he was sitting on the floor in the far corner. "Remove yourself from the door."

"Loki," Tony whimpered quietly. "I just need to know that you're not bleeding out in there."

"I'm fine. Get away from the door."

Tony rested his forehead against the door, trying and failing to ignore the soft whimpering sounds coming from within. The panic was back again, yet still without the raised heart rate.

"Tony?" Bruce asked, peeking his head through the bedroom door. "What's all the yelling about? Clint even went and got his bow ready."

"Bruce!" Tony rushed towards his friend. "I need you to―"

"Oh my god, are you bleeding from your mouth?!"

"It's not my…" Tony flinched back a little and pointed to the bathroom door. "Just get stuff to bandage up Loki, okay? I'm fine."

"Right. And after I patch him up, you're going to explain what happened."

"Yeah, hopefully," Tony said as he shooed the doctor out the door. Clint popped his head around the frame and frowned down at Tony.

"You look worse than shit," he said before pushing his way into the room. "So why is Loki in the bathroom?"

"Don't ask, for now."

"Well, I've gotta wonder," Clint said, moving closer to Tony. "How he'ssupposedly wounded in there."

Tony backed away and stammered, "S-Stop. Don't get any closer."

Damn if that didn't sound confident and manly.

"Or what?"

"Or apparently I'll…" Tony choked, his eyes going wide.

Eat you.

Clint stopped in surprise at the fear on the shorter man's face. As soon as he froze, Tony bolted past him out of the room.

"Hey!" Clint shouted and ran after him, only to collide with Bruce at the door. "Oh shit. Can't help you," Clint grumbled before tripping over Bruce's med kit. "God dammit! Tony's a zombie!"

Bruce picked up his glasses and glared at the archer. "I don't think so. For one, something like that would have shown up on his blood test."

"Yeah? Well when was the last time you did one? Because he's paler than pale," Clint said, making a face. "Like a crusty gray color. He doesn't even smell like Tony anymore, and his mouth was bloody. Oh yeah, and Loki's in the bathroom with some mysterious wound. Hmmm, I wonder what could have happened?"

"If sarcasm could cure all of our problems, I would let you go on," Bruce replied tersely. "But since it does not, shut up and go find Tony while I try to get a god out of the bathroom."

* * *

"Jarvis, deadlock the door behind me."

"As you wish, sir." The AI responded smartly. "May I inquire as to why you are locking yourself in the training room with a syringe?"

Tony rolled his eyes to the ceiling and slid down the wall into a seated position. "Jarvis, you know in all those zombie movies, how there's never a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist?" He let out a bitter laugh. "Because they don't get zombiefied easily. It wouldn't make a very good plot if the asshole got away because he's smart and had lots of money."

"I fail to see how this is relevant, sir."

"Oh fuck it… I'm just bitching because my life is not a movie." Tony grumbled before resting his head on his knees. "I turn zombie from eating fucking shawarma. What was it, a bad batch of cardamom?" He paused and thumped his forehead against his knees in frustration. "How uncool is that?"

"On a scale of one to ten, sir, I would say a nine."

"It was rhetorical, I didn't actually need to know how―" He snapped his head up. "Wait, what could be more uncool? What's a ten?"

"Becoming a zombie," Jarvis responded. "From about seventy other things you have done in your life."

Tony scoffed and turned his head to find Clint staring at him from behind the tempered glass wall of the training room.

"You seem pretty normal to me," Clint said. "Arguing with your robot as usual."

"I am an AI."  
"He's an AI."

Clint shrugged and tried the door. When it wouldn't open he peeked back in. "Hey, come on. Let me in."

"Nope."

"Tony, you're not a zombie," the archer muttered, resting his head against the glass. "You were probably just having a fever dream about burgers or something."

Tony cast a tired look at the archer. "I checked my blood again."

"Not good?"

"Nope."

"Want me to stay?"

Tony gave Clint a pointed look. The archer smiled weakly and turned to leave. "Okay, just… you should at least talk to Loki before you…" He blanched and walked away without another word.

* * *

"Loki," Bruce tried again. "Please just open the door. Let me in and I swear I will lock it behind me."

There was soft whimper in response. It was not the first and Bruce doubted it would be the last he would hear. The god had refused to respond to anything he had said for the past twenty minutes.

"Loki, come on. I know you're a god but you can't just…"

"Still not out?" Clint asked, stepping into the room.  
Bruce eyed the man and nodded to the empty door beside him. "He didn't return with you?"

"Tony has locked himself in the training room with a syringe."

Bruce paled and removed his glasses, wiping them off on his shirt regardless of how clean they already were. "He checked again, didn't he?"

"Yep."

"And he's sure?"

Clint nodded and met the doctor's eye for a moment. "Time to get Loki out of the bathroom… Before it's too late."

"He won't let me in." Bruce said with a sigh.

"Smash it down."

"With what? I'm not bringing out the other guy for a bathroom door." Bruce chuckled darkly. "The collateral damage is not worth it."

Clint laughed. "I was thinking maybe the 'Human Wrecking Ball' we call Steve."

"What did you just call me?" Steve asked, entering the bedroom fully dressed and looking more awake than the other two.

Clint eyed the man suspiciously. "Have you been awake this whole time just watching us run around?"

"No, I have not. I awoke when I heard all the 'running around' and came to investigate." Steve said sharply. "Now, why is Loki in the bathroom?"

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking. "We don't know everything yet. Can we just…" He gestured to the bathroom door. "Get it open first? He's hurt."

"Fine." The soldier said as he readied himself. "Stand back."

Bruce shuffled behind Clint and watched nervously. The archer shouted out to the god, "LOOKKKIII! We're coming in, so watch out!"

With that, Rogers darted forward, hitting the door with his body at just the right points for it to easily rip off its hinges. In seconds, he had the door in his hands and was stepping back to let the doctor in.

Bruce rushed in to find the god curled up in the far back corner of the shower stall. The tile floor was covered in blood, tiny rivulets finding their way down the drain.

He knelt down beside Loki cautiously, uncaring about his clothing turning red. "Loki, let me take a look at that, please?" He asked in a gentle voice. He noticed the god's hand was firmly pressed against the wound.

Loki responded in a quiet, raspy voice. "Where is Tony?"

"He's locked himself in the training room." Bruce said as he managed to pry Loki's hand away from his neck. "He's waiting for you."

"I can't…"

Bruce gave the god a look and began cleaning the bite. It wasn't as large as he initially though. It seemed larger due to the alarming amounts of blood.

"Why can't you?" He asked calmly, sticking a wide gauze patch over the wound.

Loki hissed quietly and glanced up at the doctor. "I can't. I responded poorly. But he… he bit me."

"Loki…" Bruce mumbled with a frown. "You should go see him."

"I can't. I won't."

"He doesn't have… a lot of time."

The god's head twitched up at this, meeting Bruce's eyes with a question. Bruce stood and looked down at Loki, trying to find the right words to say.

"Just, go see him."

Loki remained unresponsive, turning back into the corner of the shower stall.

* * *

Tony had begun to twitch uncontrollably. A leg here, an eye there. It was almost funny, if he hadn't been dying.

"Jarvis," He croaked. "Run the scan again."

"Yes sir. Running scan."

"Any changes?"

"Sir," The AI responded, sounding disappointed. "It seems to have gotten worse. I fear you are nearly out of time."

Tony rolled his head to look at the window. It had been a half hour since he woke up and bit his boyfriend's neck. Since then, he had mostly remained alone. Steve had come down and remained stoic while they talked. It wasn't until they ran out of words that it seemed to strike the man that Tony was actually dying. Rogers left, tears in his eyes and a promise in his heart. A promise Tony made him swear to keep or he would come back and hunt his ass.

Still, he waited for his god to come see him. As the twitching began to worsen, he came to the conclusion that Loki wasn't coming.

"This is it, Jarvis," he said, chuckling.

"It's been a pleasure sir."

"Thanks, I can say the same."

"Shall we begin?"

Tony smiled up at the camera in the corner of the room. "Yep. Start recording."

* * *

"If you aren't going to see him, I will," Bruce said angrily. "I refuse to let him go without at least saying goodbye. If you truly loved him, you would do the same."

"Bruce," Steve said quietly. "He's probably already… He said he only had minutes left."

"What?!" Bruce ran to the bathroom door, looking at the two sitting on Tony's bed. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

Steve glanced at Clint and then down at his hands. "He didn't want anyone to watch but Loki," Steve said quietly. "Just Loki."

"So I don't get a goodbye?" Bruce choked, angry tears forming in his eyes.

"He said to give you this." Clint said, holding out a sheet paper. "And that he was afraid that if you went to see him you would either try to fix him, or Hulk out."

Bruce snapped, "Of course I would try to help." He snatched the paper and flipped it open. Surprised, his mouth dropped open as he stammered. "I… uh."

"What does it say?" Steve asked.

Bruce looked up at them in a stunned silence. After a few moments he swallowed nervously and spoke.  
"He left nearly everything to me."

"Oh my god," Clint laughed quietly. "Wasn't he trying to avoid you Hulking out?"

His laughter was cut short when Loki stumbled to the bathroom door. "Where is he?" he asked, his eyes dark with emotion.

Jarvis suddenly spoke. "Sir…"

"Yesss?" Loki hissed.

"I'm afraid he is gone now."

Steve made a choking, sobbing sound and left the room quickly. Clint stood and looked at the other two in silence before also leaving. Bruce and Loki followed soon after, the god walking into the elevator in a trance.

"He's gone?"

"Jarvis wouldn't lie," Bruce responded patently.

"Tony is gone."

The doctor turned and looked at the tall god beside him. They were nearly to the main floor when Loki started to ask questions. Well, one question.

"Tony is gone?"

"Yes."

Loki went still and rode the rest of the way in silence. Once they reached the basement, they joined both Steve and Clint in front of the glass window looking into the training room. Both remained quiet as they stood next to them.

Inside, the room was brightly lit. Small shadows were cast across the still face of Tony Stark where he was curled up against the wall, the now empty syringe still in hand.

"He recorded a final message for Loki." Jarvis said suddenly. "Do you wish to watch it in private, sir?"

"No." Loki said in monotone. "Play it here."

They wrenched their eyes away from their fallen comrade to watch one of the screens in the wall of the work room nearby.

It flickered on and with it, came a weak, familiar voice.

"Are you recording yet?"

Jarvis responded that, yes, he was recording.

"Good," said the Tony on screen. He was standing in the middle of the room, listing slightly to one side. He stumble back, his body shaking with a violent twitch.

"Ow… heh." Tony said with a grimace. "I guess I better make this quick. I refuse to go full zombie. Never go full zombie."

He stumbled back to the wall and fell against it, sliding down once more to sit.

"I guess I should start with, 'I'm sorry', huh?" Tony said with a laugh. "I can't express how sorry I really am. Words just don't seem to cover it. I never wanted to see that expression on your face, Lokes. Never."

Loki stepped back behind the others, hiding his face in the shadows.

"Secondly," Tony continued, "I can't tell if you're infected or not. I know nothing showed up in my tests until it was too late." There was a small frown at that. " I wish I could tell you you're gonna be okay."

Bruce crossed his arms nervously, trying to remain calm.

Loki was infected? Could they all be exposed? Stark had locked himself away almost immediately, but who's to know if the infection was airborne or not.

"Loki…" came Stark's voice from the video once more. He was looking up at the screen, his eyes filled with pain.

"Loki," he began again. "There's something for you in the bottom drawer of my desk. I wasn't going to tell you about it, but I feel like you should have it." Tony paused a moment and laughed weakly. "I actually bought it for you a year ago, but I chickened out when your brother told me about the customs of Asgard and taking a prince as a husband. Odin doesn't seem like the kind of guy to get along with me, let alone let me marry you."

Steve choked again and cast a teary glance at the god. Loki looked terrified. His hand was clenched against the bandages so hard it had started to bleed again.

He managed to croak, " Marriage? He was going to ask me to…?"

Tony's voice interrupted them. He was sounding weaker by the second, the twitching growing more consistent.  
"I feel like an asshole for doing this, but I really want you to have it," he said, cracking a real smile at the camera. "Because even if I couldn't live forever, it didn't mean I couldn't try. Right?" He laughed and started to cough.

"Oh god," he choked again. "That was cheesy wasn't it?"

A low groan came from him as he leaned forward a bit, his face shadowed. His voice came out sounding more pained than before. "So keep it, okay? Don't forget about me. Not in a million years." He looked back up, his eyes now so dark they were nearly black. "Loki, I'm not going to say it. I won't."

He whimpered and uncapped the syringe with his teeth. Jabbing it into his arm quickly, he gave the camera one last look.

"I won't say it… Because you know. You know."

He groaned again and closed his eyes, his body beginning to shudder more harshly.  
"Jarv… is… stop…"

The video cut out, the screen going dark.

They stood in a stunned silence, still staring at the now empty screen before a wild, sickeningly familiar laugh came from behind the three heroes.

Steve turned to the god in spoke a voice that shook from either grief or fear. "Loki…?"

Loki stood behind them, a hand on the still bleeding wound. His face split into a grin that was too wide to be called sane. His left eye began to twitch ever so slightly.

Bruce stepped backwards, panic beginning to well up inside. "Oh Jesus, you're infected."

The god began to advance upon them, his hand jerking away the bandage from his throat.

Steve quickly stepped in front of the others, putting a hand up. "Stop, Loki."

"I can't," said the god. "I won't."

There was a gross coughing sound from the other room. Loki did, in fact, stop. Steve's eyes lit up, looking past the god at the door of the training room.

"It can not be…" Loki said, watching all three men in front of him start to smile.

Bruce's smile crumbled immediately as he let out an unmanly wail. "Don't leave me all your stuff if you're just going to come back! I thought you were dead!"

Tony laughed weakly from where he was leaning on the doorway. "Sorry, Bruce," he said with a smile. "I wasn't actually sure it was going to work. I kinda' made it up on the spot."

"You bastard," breathed Clint.

Steve fidgeted, glancing at the god who remained facing them. Loki had not turned around or moved an inch from his spot.

The soldier gave up waiting for a reaction and launched himself past Loki to hug his not so undead friend. "You scared the heck out of me, Stark."

"Yeah, yeah." Tony said, patting his back. "Don't keep crying though, America would think you unmanly."

Steve gave him a look and left the room with Bruce to find a box of tissues.

"Glad you're alive, buddy," Clint grinned at his friend and gestured with his head to Loki. "Cuz' I'm pretty sure you're the only one who keeps this guy in line." With that, he left the two of them alone.

Tony waited a while for the god to turn around. When Loki didn't, he grumbled and stepped over to his work bench. "Lokes, don't go turning my friends into zombies just because I'm not here." Tony said, picking up another syringe.

"You were dead."

"Yeah," Tony said with a chuckle, coming up behind the god and uncapping the needle. "It happens a lot. You should have been here when Obadiah took out my arc reactor. Still, I would take that any day over a week of puking."

He jabbed the needle into Loki's arm, finally causing the god to twist around and face him. Loki's eyes flickered over his lover's face as if unsure of what he was seeing and shuddered as the medication started to take effect.

"What is in this, exactly?" asked Loki, still gazing at Tony.

"It's technically an antibiotic. I just cancelled the infection out with itself, basically." Tony flashed a grin. " I had to find the leftovers in the fridge to get it."

Loki glared at the man. "You did not just inject infected shwarma into my body."

"Yes I did. And you will love me for it."

Loki continued to glare as Tony's eyes fell on the bloody bandage. His smile fell from his face immediately.

"Lokes…"

Loki slipped his arms around the mortal's waist and bumped his head roughly against Tony's. "Don't apologize again. It is unnecessary."

"Well, maybe for biting you. But I do want to apologize for asking you to marry me when I was dying," Tony said, nuzzling his face against Loki's. "It's highly unromantic of me."

"It truly was."

"Let me try it again?"

"Yes."

Tony smiled slowly. "Was that your answer? I haven't even asked yet."

"Yes," Loki said with a smirk. "Now show me this trinket you have hidden away in a drawer."

"You're so greedy." Tony said, a small blush rising to his face.

"You can afford it."

They left the basement and broke the news to their still sniffly friends upstairs. Steve was torn between happy and confused that two men could marry, but managed to settle with happy. After they shared hugs all around Clint stood up and stretched.

"Well, you know what today is." The archer said with a smile.

"What?" Tony asked, sitting down next to his now fiancé on the couch.

"Saturday." Clint said with a grin. "Let's celebrate with shawarma!"

Loki shot the archer with a ball of green magic, sending him flying half way across the room.

Clint groaned and sat up. "What, too soon?"


End file.
